Union Development

Twitter released Vine in late January of this year. And over the course of the last ten months, the connected population has become increasingly captivated with the power of six-second storytelling. There are fun and truly impressive videos being uploaded by the minute as well as new techniques... Vineception, where users layer their Vine video with someone else's, is one of my personal favorites! (Go to Vine and search #SongCollab to see some examples).

Despite the Association of National Advertiser's (ANA) protests, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is expected to issue a new batch of domain names at the end of the month. While the initial thought of being able to have a branded top-level domain seems exciting - and a marketer's dream - the threats that could come with this expansion could (and really should) stifle a majority of that excitement.

If you haven’t taken the time to read about and understand Google Adwords new Enhanced Campaigns, you need to get a jump on it! Starting in a few months, all Adwords campaigns will be automatically converted to the new enhanced structure as Google continues to dictate the form and function of PPC advertising.

Yes, I know this post is a bit overdue but even though the 2013 ADDY Awards were over two weeks ago we are still talking about it over here at Union (formerly Studiobanks). As expected, AAF Charlotte did a fantastic job putting on an absolutely entertaining evening; among the table decorations, entertainment from Miss Fortune and the 2013 highlights of the area’s advertisers, one thing is for sure: Charlotte’s advertising scene has stepped up once again.

Instead of beginning with a too-long reasoning of how I've come to be the way I am, I'll just say that the web freaks me out. Digital eyeballs watch my every move. Offence is taken when LinkedIn requests and Facebook posts linger without reply. Forty-seven JavaScript frameworks were released last week.

If you aren't on Instagram, you are in the minority. January 2013 data reveals that over 90 million users check into the application at least once a day. I admit it, I am one of them. Whether my interest comes from my personal affection for photography or the ease and ability to make a snapshot of my morning coffee look perfectly lit and well thought through is irrelevant, the important point is that now I can enjoy Instagram on my desktop just like on my phone… for the most part.

As we have all heard, last week Facebook stepped into the search world. Honestly, I didn't know what to think when Zuckerberg announced, "Come see what we are building," but nonetheless, his vague tease worked and had me checking live coverage news feeds throughout the day. So it's here, we all knew it was going to happen but now that it has, what does it really mean for advertisers and users?

Most of our days here at Union (formerly Studiobanks) are spent using our skill sets for the creation of digital platforms and campaigns. However, to kickoff 2013, we decided to take a break and exercise our sandwich creation skills and to do something we enjoy just as much: giving back to the community.

In October of 2012, Facebook reached a cool one billion users. Twitter has continued to grow as well, showing an increase in active users by 40% from September 2011 to March 2012. Unless you’re still driving cars with your feet (Flintstones anyone?), it’s likely your business is using at least one of these social media platforms. In fact, your company has probably invested untold amounts of time, internal resources and—most importantly—raw capital into these platforms, all in the blind hope to see some returns on the back end. If your company wants to have some resemblance of a measurable ROI it first needs to ask itself: What campaign metrics should we be tracking?

The below is a guest blog post from one of our interns, Tony Maciolowski. If you’d like to inquire about an internship opportunity with Union (formerly Studiobanks), let us know. Enter Tony.

Chances are that while you’re camped out on your couch watching the latest episode of that must-see show (Mad Men anyone?), you’re also twiddling away on your smartphone. Whether you’re updating your Facebook status or asking Google who the actor is that plays Don Draper, you’re probably not alone.

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UNION is a digital marketing agency founded in 2002 and headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Considered a digital marketing leader, UNION collaborates with many of the Southeast region's top brands to achieve business objectives through strategy, creative and technology. The agency specializes in crafting digital marketing platforms, content and campaigns that deliver meaningful and measurable ROI results. Want to work with us?